Court reporters use stenographic devices in order to record shorthand notes of depositions, courtroom hearings, trials, or other proceedings. The stenographic notes taken by the court reporter are used to create transcripts of the particular court proceedings recorded by the court reporter. Conventionally, the stenographic notes can be converted into a readable text electronic document using computer aided transcription (CAT) software, typically in conjunction with a computer such as a laptop computer, so that the stenographic notes are transformed into, for example, a real-time stream of data or characters.
Computing devices may be provided so that attorneys or other participants in or outside of a court proceeding can monitor the real-time data stream from the court reporter's computing system.
However, not all court reporters provide real-time data streams to attorneys during a proceeding. As recognized by the present inventors, it may be beneficial to provide a mechanism for determining when a real-time data stream service is provided as part of the court reporting service. As recognized by the present inventors, what is needed is a method or apparatus for permitting access to, tracking, and reporting real time transcriptions, so that when appropriate in one example, charges may be levied or itemized according to the usage of such a real time service during a proceeding.
It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.